Navy marine mammal worker dies

A handler gives a clamp to one of their trained California sea lions that it will clamp to a person simulating a "threat swimmer''s" thigh, during a demonstration at the Navy's Point Loma facility.

A handler gives a clamp to one of their trained California sea lions that it will clamp to a person simulating a "threat swimmer''s" thigh, during a demonstration at the Navy's Point Loma facility. (John Gibbins)

UPDATE, April 30: A spokesman for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said agency investigators are looking into the incident.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

A 29-year-old government contractor died Monday during a nighttime exercise with the U.S. Navy’s marine mammal program in San Diego Bay.

Coll Perske, an employee of Science Applications International Corp., was given CPR at the scene by paramedics and taken to UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest, where he was pronounced dead.

A Navy spokesman said the training exercise involved two boats and SAIC contractors. The team was practicing a skill called “swimmer interdiction” – when Navy dolphins and sea lions detect and mark an incoming swimmer with a claw-like device.

But Jim Fallin, spokesman for Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific on Point Loma, said the marine mammals were always either in the boat or in sight of the boat crews and were not engaged with the swimmer -- in this case Perske, whose job description was marine mammal specialist.

The Navy’s $28 million marine mammal program, headquartered in San Diego, uses 80 bottlenose dolphins and 40 California sea lions. This is the first time a person has been killed in connection with the program, Fallin said.

Deferring to the continuing investigation, Fallin said he didn’t have any releasable information on the cause of Perske’s death. A San Diego County Medical Examiner's report released late Tuesday said Perske drowned during a diving exercise. After he failed to resurface, co-workers assisted him to the surface but found him unresponsive.

The commander of SPAWAR’s Point Loma operation has called a temporary halt to all training events that are not considered mission-essential, Fallin said.

"This is a tremendous loss to all of us," said Capt. Kurt Rothenhaus, commanding officer. "I want to express my sincerest and deepest condolences to the family, along with the many friends and teammates our SAIC colleague had here at SSC Pacific."

SAIC, based in McLean, Va., released a statement that said the company is “deeply saddened” by the loss.

“Perske had been a member of the SAIC family and the marine mammal program for more than five years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends,” the company said in a statement released Tuesday.

The Navy uses marine mammals because they are armed by Mother Nature with superb eyesight, sophisticated sonar and the ability to dive 500 feet without getting “the bends.”

Navy dolphins and sea lions have deployed to Iraq and Bahrain during the post-Sept. 11 wars to keep ports safe for American ships. Their roles including patrolling for enemy divers and finding mines. It’s a program that goes back to naval research that started in the late 1950s and at one time included killer whales and sharks.